Sugg remembers meeting Bush in 1992

Tuesday

Dec 4, 2018 at 3:38 PMDec 4, 2018 at 5:33 PM

ERECT — Former President George H.W. Bush’s death on Nov. 30 at the age of 94 brought back fond memories for Steve Sugg, who was an official photographer during the elder Bush’s 1992 campaign for re-election.

The Erect resident worked out of a studio on Fayetteville Street in Asheboro back then. When he received a phone call one day asking him to photograph the president during a whistle-stop tour through North Carolina, Sugg said he thought it could be someone pulling a prank.

“I said, ‘If you’re who you say you are, send me a letter of confirmation,’ ” Sugg said Tuesday from his home. “I got a letter a couple of days later to confirm and then I got a call from the White House. I said, ‘Yes, I think I can work him in.’ ”

Despite orders from the Secret Service to meet the campaign train at Gastonia, Sugg said officials couldn’t find his name on a list for credentials. He finally had to threaten to leave, making the Secret Service agent responsible. “I got my ID within a couple of minutes,” he said.

Once on the train, which made five stops between Gastonia and the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh, Sugg said he found “all kinds of important people on board.” That included N.C. Gov. James Martin and Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina. Sugg wound up eating at a table beside Thurmond, who he said dominated the conversation during lunch.

As an official photographer, Sugg took photos at all the stops as people would pose with the president. During the trip, he met two men he remembers as Oliver and Shorty from Charlotte who were aboard the submarine that rescued Bush at sea after his plane was shot down during World War II.

Later, Sugg said, he asked one of the Secret Service agents if Oliver and Shorty were on the list to have pictures made with Bush. He was told they were not. But when he explained to the agent who the men were, Oliver and Shorty were quickly brought forward to meet the man they had saved.

“I took their picture,” said Sugg. “They wouldn’t have met (Bush) if I hadn’t been in the right place at the right time.”

When the train arrived at the fairgrounds, Sugg said he got off and “got turned around and started running down the track. The Secret Service was trying to stop me and get me back to the other end.”

Once he re-boarded the train, Sugg said, he was out of breath and apologizing. “(Bush) was sitting on a couch and he held up his hand, laughed, and said, ‘Don’t worry about that. It could happen to anybody.’ ”

“I asked the White House photographer to take a picture of me with Bush,” Sugg said. After all the people he had taken photos of with the president, Sugg finally got his turn.

“He had a super personality,” he said of Bush. “I felt comfortable and at ease. He had just a natural knack of putting you at ease. He was a super guy and I enjoyed being around him.”

Sugg said that when he first met Bush, “he was like, ‘I’m ready for what you want me to do. Just tell me.’ It felt natural to be around him. He enjoyed talking to you and he was easy to talk to.”

Asked what his thoughts were when he heard that Bush had died, Sugg said, “I can’t say ‘shocking,’ but it kind of hit me that I had traveled with him and I hate to see him leave. I was touched a little bit that I got to meet him, a great man who had a big influence on America.”

Sugg said he thinks that despite Bush’s age of 94, “he had a big influence on where America is and on the people making decisions today.”

A special affinity Sugg felt with Bush 26 years ago involved their both having served in the military. “Both of us being vets, you understand the feeling that he was one of us,” he said. “His war service, I think, had a big influence on his service to the country. That service had a lot to do with his decisions as president.”

Sugg thinks that was especially true during the Gulf War with Iraq. “He knew what he was doing, putting 18-, 19-, 20-year olds in harm’s way. He had feelings for the servicemen.

“I thought he was a great person,” Sugg said. “He had deep feelings for war that other people didn’t have.

“I’m very thankful this ol’ country boy got to meet him. It was an honor.”

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